


When Coco met Fox

by Flexor



Series: The Caffeine Files [1]
Category: RWBY
Genre: CFVY's back story, Coco's murky past, F/M, HappyFunSexyTiem, Pre-Gatling, Pre-V1, The hard life of a top model
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-26
Updated: 2016-07-26
Packaged: 2018-07-26 23:06:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,319
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7593955
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Flexor/pseuds/Flexor
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Team CFVY is one of the more experienced teams of the noobs, being <i>second</i> year. But they weren't always the well-oiled, caffeine-fueled machine they are now. At first sight, Coco definitely had her doubts about Fox, until... Oh. Well. That escalated quickly.</p>
            </blockquote>





	When Coco met Fox

"This way!"

Coco Adel reached out for her new partner, named Fox Alistair. 

Miss Goodwitch had explained that the first person you make eye contact with in this cold, damp, dark, miserable, uncivilised piece of nature, would be your partner in the four years of your training as a hunter. Well, that was only the first of her problems. She had definitely looked into Fox' milky white eyes, but he had never seen her. He was blind as a bat. He'd known she was there, so he probably compensated for his blindness with hearing, but still. There had been some rather cute boys in this year's class. It was just Coco's luck that she got stuck with one of the special needs cases. Maybe she could ditch him later using a strict definition of the words 'Eye Contact', but somehow, she knew that wouldn't work, and she'd have to spend the next four years or so holding her partner's hand to keep him from bumping into things.

Great.

They were late. Coco had been going slow, giving Fox the chance to keep up with her. They were making for some old abandoned temple, where they were to pinch a relic of some sort and then get back. All the _good_ relics would have gone already, thanks to... Coco sighed. Poor guy couldn't help losing his sight. He should have stayed home. There were plenty of worthwhile pursuits for someone without working eyes. Why did he have to pick the one that you did need good eyesight for?

His hand was on her shoulder and she stopped.

"What?"

"Grimm. Beowolves. A pack of seven. Four o'clock."

"You sure?"

"Yes."

Coco turned round, aimed her rifle. Coco was definitely a high-powered automatic kind of girl. She'd got this weapon from an Atlas army surplus store. She strained her eyes, looking through the branches, and sighed.

"Can't see any."

"Neither can I," said Fox, drily. "But they're here."

"Let's keep moving," said Coco.

"Let's not," said Fox. "They've been tracking us for five minutes. They know we're here."

Fox went down in a crouch, moving his head this way and that, as if listening for something.

"Are you good enough not to shoot me with that thing?"

"Surely you jest."

"Fox. Not Shirley. Here they come."

The shadows between the trees turned into the shapes of wolf-like creatures. They were all black except for their faces, which were white. The largest of the group stepped forward and howled, while the rest of the pack circled round.

Fox sprang forward. Coco only now took note of the blades he had on his arms. He slashed his weapon out at the pack leader. Coco didn't have the time to think. More of the Creatures of Grimm closed in on them. She aimed, fired. Two shots for each Grimm, the standard double-tap. Picking the closest each time, she shot four of the creatures before they came too close and she had to move. As she ran, she glanced at Fox, who was still fighting the alpha. The little devil on her left shoulder told her to keep running. That would save her from having to lead the blind for four years. As soon as it occurred to her, she flicked the thought away, angry at herself for even allowing it to form in her head. She aimed, shot another of the creatures. Two left. One of them swiped at her with his claws, and Coco could only just leap out of the way. Rifles are wonderful weapons if your enemy is a few hundred yards away. Up close, they tend to change into a very complicated club. Coco ducked under another swipe, smashed the butt of her rifle into the creature's face. She kicked the beast in the leg, _hard_ , making it howl and stumble. Coco jumped backwards, aimed... and nothing happened.

" _Damn!_ "

As fast as she could, she dropped the empty clip from her weapon and rammed in a fresh one. She wasn't fast enough. The creature got up, limped towards her, teeth bare and slavering, to rip Coco to shreds. Coco darted off to the side, but even with its sore leg, the Beowolf still kept up with her. Coco pulled the bolt on her rifle, putting a round in the chamber. Before she could aim, Fox leapt on the creature, slashing it with his arm blades. Coco winced as she saw the Beowolf twist round and score a hit on Fox' arm. She flipped her weapon to automatic, aimed for the Beowolf's head and let rip. The head disappeared in a spray of blood.

Fox leapt back, crouched, moving his head slowly.

Coco took a deep breath. "We got 'em all."

"Shh!"

Fox listened for a few moments longer, then stood up straight.

"We got them all."

"Are you okay? Your arm is bleeding."

"I know," said Fox. He closed his eyes, concentrating, and his aura sealed up the cut, adding another scar to the already impressive collection. He grinned at her. "Are you one of those chicks that dig scars?"

"Don't mind 'em," said Coco. "Specially if they're gotten while keeping a Beowolf from eating me."

"You're welcome," said Fox. 

* * *

 

They got to the temple when it was already getting dark. On pedestals were different kinds of playing cards, in pairs. All the picture cards were gone already, of course. Coco sneered. She'd missed getting the ace of spades. The seven of clubs and the seven of spades were still there. As Coco reached out, a gust of wind blew the cards up, but she could just snatch them up before they blew away. She handed Fox the seven of clubs. Fox stuck it in the breast pocket of his shirt.

"Right. Now where do we go?"

"Back, I suppose. It's getting dark though."

"I can _see_ how that would be a problem for you."

"Uhh..." Coco hesitated.

"I can hold your hand if you like."

Coco gave Fox a hard look. "Are you yanking my chain now?"

Fox laughed out loud. "The sooner you stop feeling sorry for me, the better. I can take care of myself, light or no light."

Coco shook her head. "Talk about the blind leading the blind. And it's a crumbling moon, too. How about we just set off and see how far we get before I'm as blind as you are?"

"Can't see a problem with that." 

 

"Hey Adel, you _can_ go a bit faster you know? My eyes may be rubbish, but my legs are fine."

"Shut up. Trying to find a place to stay the night."

"What, like a four star hotel?"

"Scrub. I only stay in _five_ star hotels."

"Ooo. Aren't we the sophisticated one?"

"Damn straight I am. Who the hell even put all these trees here?"

"I'd fill out one of those little cards that says 'tell us how we're doing'."

"Yeah, and then drop it in the can to save _them_ the trouble. Only thing that works is to write a _very_ pissy blog post and bounce it all over the CCTS."

"Grimm were very rude, unsympathetic, and unhelpful. Tea and coffee making facilities leave a lot to be desired. Toilets don't close properly. Sure partner was peeping at me. One star. Would not be launched into again."

Coco chuckled, then frowned, looking into the gloom.

"Hey. There's a house over there. Log cabin or something like that."

"If there's no room service, I'm walk-" Fox stood still, listening. "Oh _crap_ ," he said, in a whisper.

"What?"

"Grimm. Lots of them. Over there. Creeps, and some... bigger."

Coco ejected the magazine from her rifle, counted the bullets. From her belt, she added more to fill it up to its normal twenty.

"We need that shelter. Grimm are deadly in the dark. If we try to get back to Beacon now, we'll never make it." Coco paused, looking at Fox. "What do you think?"

"Gonna be tight. How much ammo you got?"

"Ten full clips, twenty rounds each." Coco put the clip in, pulled back the bolt on her rifle. "Right. You keep them away from me, I'll shoot them. How does that sound?"

"Good."

"You sure?"

"Sure. It'll be fun."

"Ready?"

"Go!" 

 

Fox ran forward, with Coco a few paces behind. Some two hundred yards from the cabin and its grim occupants, she went to one knee, aimed.

"In range. Hold here."

With angry loud bangs, Coco's rifle went off. The smaller Creeps needed only one good headshot, in some cases two to be sure. Sadly, the Grimm did not sit down waiting for Coco to shoot them. With vicious screeches, they ran towards the two.

"Here they come! Creep on your two!"

Fox leapt up, charged at the Creep, and hit it. It flew away in a broken mess. Coco had little time to admire Fox' work, as more Grimm came at them. With complete concentration, she picked off one Grimm after the other, now and then shouting advice to Fox, who struck down Grimm with powerful strokes and slashes of his arm blades. Coco blew a lock of hair out of her eyes. It was hard going, but slowly, she allowed herself to think that maybe, _maybe_ they weren't going to die here.

There was a loud roar behind Coco, and with a crash a giant black creature came pushing through the trees, It looked at Coco with burning red eyes, then slowly stepped forward.

" _Fox!_ " Coco raised her rifle and fired. "Ursa major! Our six!"

"Bit busy right now!"

Coco's clip ran out, and still the Ursa advanced. She ejected the empty clip, and slammed in another while she stepped backwards.

" _Fox!_ "

Coco aimed at the Ursa's head, pulled the trigger. After four shots, her rifle stopped. Coco bared her teeth.

"Piece of _shit_! Fox, gun's jammed!"

If Fox had heard her, he made no reply. The Ursa raised its claw and slashed down at Coco. In desperation, she held up her rifle to block. The rifle cracked and Coco fell to her back. Before she could roll and get up, the Ursa swiped at her again, hitting her thigh. Coco screamed as her protective aura shattered. The Ursa raised its claw again for the final stroke. Coco threw up her arms, closed her eyes...

There was a loud, dull _Boom_ , and when Coco looked up, she saw Fox sitting over her on one knee, a fierce expression on his face, listening carefully. Coco looked, and nearby trees were covered in gore and pierced by the Ursa's back spikes. It was quiet. So lovely and quiet. Coco closed her eyes, sighed, and let her head drop to the ground.

Fox took a few deep breaths. "Well, that was fun. What next?" 

 

The cabin door was open. Coco slowly walked inside. Fox followed her. The place inside was a mess. There wasn't a whole piece of furniture to be found. Old bloodstains covered the floor and the walls. The windows were broken. Coco pulled a torch from her pack, and shone on detail after detail. Torn patches of clothes, belonging to two or three people. A cradle smashed into a wall. Coco's imagination played a vivid story of what had happened here.

"See anything?" said Fox.

Coco swallowed. "I wish I didn't. I don't think anyone here got out."

"Did we just stumble into Jethro Black's cabin?"

Coco put her shoulder against the door and pushed it shut, locking it with a solid beam of wood that would definitely have kept the Grimm out, had the cabin people managed to lock it in time.

"I _hate_ that song," said Coco. "Twenty damn verses and he never even gave the wife a name."

"Told us she was a jeweller, though."

"Great," said Coco. "I like jewels, but I like to know who made them."

She started to pick up destroyed pieces of furniture. She handed Fox a piece of wood.

"Turn that into splinters, please?"

Fox pulled out his knife and started splitting the piece of wood as Coco found more. They stacked up the kindling and the wood. Coco pulled the bullet out of one of her cartridges and made a little heap of gunpowder. With her lighter, she lit one of the splinters and ignited the fire. Flames started to play through the kindling, then steadily grew as she added more wood.

"Well, Father," she said, "We're home."

Fox shuffled through the room, clicking his tongue for echos. He found the bed. The mattress had a few tears in it, but was mostly whole. He turned it over, dragged it to the fire, and sat down on it. Coco sat down next to him, staring into the flames.

"Fox, I owe you an apology. You're way better than I thought you would be, and there's no good reason why I should have thought otherwise."

"Don't sweat it. I get that a lot."

"Really. I can't imagine how you do it, fight without seeing your opponents. If I'd close my eyes in a fight, I'd be dead in seconds."

Fox ran his fingers over the scars on his arms. "It ain't easy."

"I heard that blind people get better hearing and touch to compensate."

"I heard that too. It's bullshit. Something sighted people say to feel better about themselves. You get what you're given. You just get more practice using your other senses." He grinned. "Only if you're deaf, dumb _and_ blind, you get mad skills at pinball."

"Useful," said Coco. She reached into her small backpack and pulled out that staple food of students all through the multiverse, almond fingers. She handed Fox half of them, and they sat a while, quietly chewing.

Coco wrapped her arms round her knees. "There's a lot of bad memories in this place. I guess that's why so many Grimm linger here."

"Good thing the doors are locked tight."

Coco nodded, then realised Fox couldn't see that.

"Yeah," she said. "Fox..."

"Adel?"

Coco took a deep breath. "We may not make it back."

"Sure we will."

Coco picked up her rifle and shook it. Loose parts inside rattled, which was disturbing.

"This thing won't fire another round. Don't know why I keep it."

"You'll get another gun."

"Doesn't help me now."

"We'll be fine. You point me in the right direction, and I'll beat the crap out of anything in front of me. Remember what I did to that Ursa?"

"Had my eyes closed. Was that your Semblance?"

"Excuses, excuses. Yes it was. I can compress air in front of my fists using my aura, then blow it forward. Makes me hit like an express train. And _you_ have a kick like a mule."

"I suppose. Damn, I hate feeling helpless."

Fox reached out and squeezed Coco's shoulder.

"You're not. We'll make it."

Coco sighed. "Thanks. You seem to have a lot of confidence in me. Wish I had."

"You look like you can handle most things."

"Heh. We could die together tomorrow, and you don't even know _what_ I look like."

"Not true. I know _exactly_ what you look like."

"Really? Tell me," said Coco.

"You're a bit smaller than I am. Your hair is brown. Your eyes are brown, and your clothes are different shades of brown to black. You love the colour brown. Your mom didn't call you Coco, _you_ picked that name."

Coco held her breath.

"You're thin. Not too thin, but whatever meat there is on you is muscle. You haven't an ounce of fat on your body, because you eat like a bird unless you're in action. Your skin is very pale. Your face has been called 'interesting' as much as it has been called beautiful. You've got just enough chest to keep people from thinking you're a boy."

"Uhh," said Coco.

"You walk like you own the world. You like heavy machine guns because they are exactly the thing that a model or actress wouldn't be seen dead with. Your clothes are _nice_ , expensive, but bought a few years ago. They still fit you because you still watch your figure like a hawk. A hard habit to break. How am I doing?"

"Pretty warm," said Coco. "Do I wear a hat?"

"Yes. Dark beret."

Coco blinked a few times.

"Right, Alistair. You're _not_ a wizard with the Second Sight. How do you know what I look like?"

Fox turned his head towards her. His white eyes seemed to stare past her shoulder. A little smirk was on his face, drawing attention to the scar on his lips.

"I didn't. You said you stay in five star hotels. Your voice sounds thin, so I guessed that you were either an actress or a model. I sort of took it from there. And the rest, I mixed in from what I'd like my fantasy girlfriend to look like."

Coco sat still, completely dumbstruck.

"Oh, and I overheard some lewd remarks about a girl in a black beret, so that was a lucky guess. I can only 'look' at people's faces with my fingers. It's a bit like reading with the Lewis dot font. My scroll uses the same system."

"Lewd remarks eh?"

"Fraid so."

Coco considered asking who it was, but found she didn't care.

"Hey. Wanna look at me?"

"Definitely," said Fox.

Coco took his hands, put them on her face. Other people had stroked her cheeks before. People had stroked various other parts of her, no use denying. It had gotten her a few very lucrative jobs that she wasn't particularly proud of, but money is money, and a non-working model doesn't exactly have a long shelf life. The soft touch of Fox' fingers was different, though. They ran from her hairline, over her eyebrows, her nose, cheekbones, lips, jawline, chin, almost as though he was _scanning_ her. He dropped his hands in his lap.

"Right," said Fox. "I was dead wrong about the face."

"What, they only ever call it _interesting?_ "

"No." 

 

Coco looked at him. The look on his face was calm, relaxed. Whatever Fate would throw at him tomorrow, he would face tomorrow. Before he'd got the scar on his cheek and lips, he had been a bit of a pretty boy. A year or two ago, she wouldn't have given him the time of day. Boys like him were a dime a dozen. Little more than set dressing, expected to look neutral to make the girls shine the more. Fox, on the other hand, with his rugged battle-worn look, was... definitely interesting. And he'd read her like one of those Lewis style books.

Coco considered. It had been a while. Before she'd enthusiastically given the finger to her previous career, she had been fairly easy to talk into bed, though not _too_ easy of course. You don't sleep with anyone unless you get something in return. An amount of effort and return favours judged almost as precisely as the aim of her gun nowadays. She'd usually managed to enjoy the... physical part of the deals, but she could count the times she'd done it for nothing more than the sheer pleasure of it on one hand.

Coco could remember perfectly the night she had ended her modeling career. She had been sitting at her dresser, in a pretty little dress that _just_ concealed her nipples and the white-covered space between her legs, because that's where the lines are drawn for the non-paying customers. She was putting on her make-up. Eye shadow, eye-liner, mascara. And then, lip gloss half-way to her lips, she had caught her own eyes in the mirror, and frozen. She had sat like that, staring at herself, for at least half an hour. And then she'd uttered the most sincere, the most profound 'Fuck this!' in her whole life. She'd walked over to the sink and washed all the crap off her face. She'd ripped off the dress and dropped it in the trash can. She'd texted her Prince Charming For The Night that she'd come down with a mild case of the clap, and maybe they could meet next week, which took care of _him_. Then, she'd thought for exactly five seconds, looked up five addresses of fight schools in her area, enlisted in the third, and never looked back. Coco had made a _lot_ of stupid decisions in her life, but _that_ one, even now that it was probably going to cost her her life, had been the best she'd ever made. 

 

Fox was quiet, perversely refusing to try and seduce her. Really. They were about to die. Was _now_ the time to play the gentleman? The decision rolled over from impossible to unavoidable.

"Hey. Alistair?"

"Yes?"

"You were commenting on other bits of me besides my face. Want to know if you got that right as well?"

Fox grinned slowly. "Oh _definitely_."

With a wicked grin, Coco took Fox' hand and put it on her hat.

"You got the beret right."

Fox gave a little laugh. "And here I was, thinking you were talking about your..."

"Oh, I was," said Coco. She took Fox' other hand and put it on her breast.

"Hmm," said Fox. "Cashmere?"

"Of course."

"Soft and warm," said Fox.

"And that's only _before_ I take it off," said Coco, moving closer to him.

"Hey. Not that I don't like the way this is going, but..."

"Yes?" Coco pushed him over backwards onto the mattress, ran her fingers through his hair.

"Got any rubbers? I wasn't exactly counting on getting lucky today... or this month. Or semester. Or..."

"Silly boy." Coco reached for her backpack. "A couple of rubbers belong in _anyone's_ survival kit. So many uses for them." She sat up, pulled off her top, ran her hands up her body to her breasts, before realising that putting on a show for him was a waste. She took his hands, put them on the straps of her bra. He unhooked it, pulled it off, put it on Coco's little pile of clothes. She bent down. Light as a snowflake, soft as feathers, she kissed his damaged lips.

"If anyone asks," said Fox, "We can say that we were driving the Grimm away with happy thoughts."

Coco laughed. "If anyone thinks it's their damn business, we can say we did it because we damn well felt like it."

She kissed him again. Clothes seemed to melt away, stacked neatly in two little piles on the floor. You don't throw them about with wild abandon when you're blind, because you may never find them again.

He was _good_. His hands seemed to find Coco's hot spots like a homing missile, even the hard-to-find spot between her shoulder blades, which made her arch her back like a cat, almost purring. It had been _years_ since Coco had felt the need to give back as good as she got, but now, she did. Judging by the sounds he made, she hadn't lost her touch. Like riding a boy.

When Fox was neatly wrapped up in water-tight rubber, he rolled over on top of her. Coco wrapped her legs round his middle and made come-on noises. She cried out. She'd been fucked on yaughts, in the top floor penthouses of top hotels, on the hood of a million-lien car, by people with more money than even Coco could have made in a lifetime. Now, she was on a torn mattress, with one of the most rough-looking guys she'd ever been with, in the ruins of a house, surrounded by creatures that would kill them both if they'd dare venture out. If some of her old bed-fellows could see her now, they'd shake their heads and reflect on how low she had fallen.

But somehow, it didn't feel like that to Coco.

Coco was _free_! 

* * *

 

They set out early. The Grimm that had surrounded the area were nowhere to be seen. Who knows. Maybe their happy fun time _had_ turned them away. Coco was still carrying her broken gun, more like a talisman than anything else. They were making for Beacon in a straight line, taking it fairly slowly. Fox, with his amazing hearing, was their only defence, while Coco navigated. By luck and skill, they managed to avoid all enemies and early in the afternoon they passed the gates of Beacon Academy.

Coco wrapped her arms round Fox and kissed him.

"We made it. Let's go see Ozpin."

"If you think I'm going to look at Ozpin the same way I looked at you, you've got another thing coming." 

 

Coco held her scroll to the lock of her very first dorm. It clicked open, and she walked in, followed by Fox. To be honest, Coco was thinking of doing a few things with Fox they hadn't got round to last night, but unfortunately, the rest of their team was there. One was a girl a few inches shorter than Coco, not counting her rabbit ears. Coco hadn't seen many Faunus in her life, but this particular girl looked everything like the flight animal in her ancestry. She looked at Coco and Fox nervously, with wide-open eyes, and waved.

"Hi. I'm Velvet Scarlatina. Pleased to meet you."

Coco looked Velvet over once or twice. She got the impression that if she'd shout "Boo!" she'd be up in the lampshade. 

"Hello Velvet. I'm Coco. You're my team-mate?"

"Uhh... Yes."

"Hi Velvet. I'm Fox. Good to see you."

Velvet shrank back a little.

Fox raised his hands, palm outwards. "It's just a name. I promise I won't eat you."

Velvet laughed, a bit too shrill for comfort.

"Well, unless the almond fingers run out. Got any left, Coco?"

"Shut up Fox," said Coco.

The last member of their team, who had been sitting quietly on his bed, now stood up, hiding Velvet in his shadow. He was _massive_. He folded his hands, and bowed first to Coco, then to Fox.

"Good afternoon. My name is Yatsuhashi Daichi, and I wish you, my fellow team members, a warm welcome to our dorm." He reached inside his tunic and pulled out his playing card, the seven of diamonds. "I chose this card because the number seven is a lucky number in my country. I can see I will not be disappointed."

Coco pulled out her seven of spades. Fox pulled out his seven of clubs. Velvet looked at them all, giggled, then pulled out her own card, the seven of hearts.

"So," said Fox. "What's our team name? The Magnificent Sevens?"

"I think not," said Coco. "We'll get a team name assigned, I think. Though we can change it later if we don't like it."

"We won't have to wait long," said Yatsuhashi. "The ceremony starts in two hours." 

* * *

 

The announcer cleared his throat. "And now, Coco Adel. Fox Alistair. Velvet Scarlatina. Yatsuhashi Daichi."

They walked up to the stage, looking round at the crowd.

"Together, they will be known as Team CFVY, with the leader... _Coco_ _Adel_!"

Coco's jaw dropped. Team leader? _Her_? She looked at her team members. They were smiling at her, except Fox, who was grinning into empty space.

"Good luck, Boss," said Fox. 

 

Fox found Coco using the nifty new direction finder app on his scroll. She was sitting on a stone bench up against the wall of the gym hall, in the shade of some trees. He could hear her shuffle her feet.

"Here, Fox."

Fox walked over. "Hey Boss. The correct term is _heel_ , Fox."

"I meant _I_ _am_ here, Fox."

He sat down next to her. "I know. Just yanking your chain. Any reason why you're sitting here all on your own? Trying out this 'loneliness of command' thing?"

Coco took a deep breath. "Kinda. I've been thinking Fox."

"So we don't have to. Proper boss behaviour."

Coco laughed. "I really loved what we did the other night."

"Me too. Command me, Mistress, and..."

"We can't do that anymore," said Coco, quietly. "I'm the team leader now."

"Nonsense," said Fox. "You can even order Yatsuhashi and Velvet out of the dorm."

"No I can't." Coco looked at Fox, sadly. "We're a fighting force. Hunters. Killers. They're going to expect us to go into fights. They're going to expect _me_ to send you guys into danger. Maybe never to come back. They're going to expect me to make those decisions with a clear head."

"You've got the clearest head I know."

"Thanks Fox, but... If I send you out to attack something big and nasty, and I _will_ , then I can't use the notion that if something happens to you, I'll never feel you inside me again. I just can't."

"So you're going to get that over with right now?"

"Seems so. I've been racking my brain for ways of both being the team leader _and_ doing it with you. Because... rawr."

"Rawr yourself," said Fox. "But I get it."

"Yeah." Coco took a breath. "I'm putting in the rule, Fox. Team doesn't fuck team. I'm _not_ gonna break it, and I won't let anyone else break it either."

"No ways around it, is there?"

"I could resign as a leader," said Coco.

"Gods no," said Fox. "Who'd take over? Yatsuhashi's built like a twenty ton mech suit, and I'm going to be very happy he's with us on any number of occasions. But if he'd be the leader, I think I could save myself a lot of time by just shooting myself. As for Rabbit Girl..."

"Velvet," said Coco.

"Velvet, yeah. She'd take four years just to summon up the courage to give an order."

"I'm going to _do_ something about that," said Coco. "That poor girl has had a whole lot of people crapping on her just because she's got big ears. And that's going to stop _right_ now."

"Good. As for me, I totally lack the vision to become a leader. Ozpin made exactly the right choice putting you in charge."

"Team FIRE has a dropout," said Coco. "You could apply there. We could _liaise_."

"I could, but I won't," said Fox.

"Why not?"

Fox sat back, feeling the sun on his face even if he couldn't see it.

"There's twelve hundred students here. Let's say six hundred girls. There's got to be at least a dozen girls here I'd be perfectly happy to get in bed with."

" _Hey!_ " Coco sneered. "Watch it, buddy."

Fox put a hand on Coco's shoulder and squeezed it. "But in this whole Academy, I can't imagine anyone I'd rather _fight_ with than you. I've fought with other people before, but you are the one who understands me best, even after only a few days. I can't get that in any other team than this one." Fox grinned. "So you're stuck with me, Boss. I'd rather fight with you and not fuck, than..."

Coco gave a little nod. "Thanks Fox, I hate it, but..."

Fox put his arm round Coco's shoulders, took off her beret, kissed the top of her head, and replaced it.

"It's going to be great! Team CFVY is going to be the best team in the whole of Remnant."

"Damn straight it will be!" 

* * *

 

**Post-scriptum**

"Explain to me why coming here _wasn't_ a complete waste of time. I'm looking for a _weapon_. You've just given me a _handbag_."

The old man squinted at Coco. "Press button on handle."

"You don't get this. I want a _big_ gun, not some damn girly girly pink pea-shooter hidden in a damn ladies' purse."

"No, _you_ don't get. Press the button on damn handle."

"And _then_ you'll get me a proper gun?"

"Yes."

" _Fine._ "

Coco pressed the damn button on the damn handle of the damn handbag. There was a metallic cracking noise and Coco nearly fell over as the weight of the handbag re-distributed itself. Her eyes opened wide. The old man smirked.

"It uses much ammo. All prices here are reasonable." 


End file.
